Posted on 07/08/2004 11:49:51 AM PDT by Tai_Chung
THE abortion of a four-week-old foetus will be broadcast on Australian television after the ABC agreed to show the graphic British documentary My Foetus.
In what is an Australian first, the film will be broadcast on the religious affairs show Compass on August 8 despite sparking a vehement public debate in Britain.
It shows a four-week-old foetus being sucked out of a woman's womb using the "manual vacuum aspiration" technique, and footage of the dismembered remains of foetuses from the ages of 12 to 21 weeks.
The film was produced by Julia Black, the daughter of the founder of the pro-abortion British Marie Stopes clinic, who was heavily pregnant during the filming.
In the film, 34-year-old Black, who describes herself as pro-choice, struggles with the memory of the abortion she had at the age of 21.
She told journalists that after making the film she realised there "is a difference" between an abortion at eight weeks and a woman who aborts her foetus at 24 weeks, later in her term.
When the film was screened in Britain, Channel 4 broadcast a warning at the outset and offered viewers a helpline to call if they were traumatised by the images.
Newspaper opinion pages were filled with debate about the merits of screening such confronting footage, and commentators and politicians debated the legal limit of 24 weeks for abortion in Britain.
This week, British Prime Minister Tony Blair indicated that new medical research, such as the ultrasound scan showing a foetus "walking" in the womb at 12 weeks, could prompt a reassessment of the legal time-limit for abortions.
Health Minister Tony Abbott has stirred up public discussion about abortion in Australia in recent months, after he lamented the "national tragedy" of Australian women having 100,000 abortions a year.
Mr Abbott questioned Medicare support for 75,000 abortions annually, although John Howard said there would be no change to the public funding of terminations.
Australian women can legally have an abortion up until 20 weeks into a pregnancy.
(a) Look first to see if they cover "Elective Abortion" If so, write to both your insurance co + your employer, who is ultimately paying for it.
(b) Preferred providers. If you have preferred providers, check to see who is on the OB-GYN list. Then ask knowledgable pro-life activists in your area who are the known part-time abortionists. Some areas have such awareness; some regional areas don't have folks conducting such research. (c ) You can always do the research yourself by calling these OB-GYN docs & point blank asking them if they do abortions. You won't always get a straight answer tho from the receptionist. (d) Upon finding out which of these are part-time abortionists, write to the insurance company that lists them as a "preferred provider" and ask them why they are "preferred." Abortionists are typically known as the bottom barrel of the med industry.
Ask the insurance co. why they are recommending a schizophrenic doc who one minute treats the baby as a second patient and the next hr. is treating the same gestationally aged 2nd patient as mere garbage to be scraped out. How can you trust such a doc?
You can't always tell who is performing abortions. I know of at least one OB/GYN who routinely preformed them using the phoney diagnosis of "Missed Abortion" (miscarriage) and misstating the patient's symptoms (lying) in order to get the insurance to pay for it. He has since retired but there are probably a lot more like him out there.
This and only this sort of thing, will influence those who struggle outside a preordained religious context, to get the balance right on this admittedly very difficult and important issue.
I long ago, concluded that third trimester abortions were wrong in my moral universe, and should be illegal, except if it involves the physical life of the mother, and that first trimester abortions should be legal. 12 weeks is right on the edge of that. It suggests that second trimester abortions in my moral universe should also be highly restricted.
But you're "pro-choice" aren't you? That's what you've been saying around here for years.
Sad but true! The unborn have been disenfranchised and marginalized and declared less than human -- it goes without saying that we were all there at one time!
I'm looking forward to see how Kerry waffles on the abortion issue.
When I was in jr.high in the 80's, they showed a film in our P.e./ health class of an abortion. It was to show what can happen if you have unprotected sex. This film was so graphic. The baby was crying in pain as it was being sucked into the vacuum. After the abortion it showed a trashcan full of body parts. It was so disturbing. All the girls in the class were crying. This was a public school, but it is in the bible belt. After seeing this I don't think there wasa girl in that class that didn't think abortion was murder. NOW would be appalled if they knew this happened, they would probably try to have the school sued.
I still stuggle with government in our private lives, but I am leaning more and more light side. ;)
"If you don't know whether a body is alive or dead, you would never bury it. I think this coinsideration itself should be enough for all of us to insist on protecting the unborn."--Ronald Reagan, ABORTION & THE CONSCIENCE OF THE NATION, Thomas Nelson, 1984, p. 21.
Thanks for providing the quote and source, Colofornian.
Maybe you'd prefer to merely call it a "video training medical procedure"??
I hope that really means "right" side....and that your pro-life passion won't be wasted.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.